Railway gate



June 4, 1929. w. A. COOK 1,716.34)

RAILWAY GATE Filed May 26 1928 2 SheetS-Sheet 2 INVENTOR W z'llz'am H. C0 010 BY M *M.

ATTORNEYS Patented June 4, 1929.

UNITED STATES- PA E T OFFICE;

WILLIAM A. coox, on MARIoN, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR ToJoHN A. SHAFER, F INDIAN- APOLIS, INDIANA, AND 0RA C. KING, or MARION, INDIANA.

RAILWAY GATE.

Application filed May 26,

My invention relates todmprovements in railway crossing gates and part cularly to that type of crossing gate which is automaticallyclosed upon the approach of a train to the crossing and automatically opened when the train has passed the crossing. v o

One o f the objects of my invention is to provide a gate which when in closed position is movable to permit passage thereby of'a ve-' 0 hicle whichlmight happen to be caught between the gates whenthe same are lowered.

Another object of my invention is to provide a gate, the operating mechanism of which is such that in event of the failure of control 15 thereof the gate will drop to closed position. I For the purpose of disclosing my invention I have illustrated one embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings in which-- I Fig. 1 is an elevation of a gate showing the 20 same in raised or open position;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the gate operating mechanism showing the gate swung to permit the passage thereby;

Fig, 3 is a transverse section of the operating mechanism; Y

Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section, and A I Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the circuit arrangement for controlling the opera 50 tion of the gate.

In the embodiment of the invention illu'scap 3 on which the gate proper 4 is 'pivotally' mounted on a shaft 5 extending horizontallythrough the cap. The gate is. suitably counter-weighted at its end by weights, 6'to permit the sanie to. rock readily on its pivot.

The rotatablecap 3 is rotatably supported on a vertical shaft 7 which rotates in bearings 8 and 9 formed in the ends of supporting arms 10 and 11 integrally formed with the walls of the casing 1. This rotating shaft supports the operating mechanism for controlling the raising and lowering of the gate arm 4. To this end I mount on the shaft a platform 12 which supports a vertically extending fluid cylinder 13 which is provided with a reciprocating piston 14, the piston rod 15 of which is connected with one end of a crank arm 16 keyed on the shaft 5.

The bottom of this cylinder communicates by means of a supply pipe 17 with the intake 1928. .Serial No. 280,679.

.noid 23, the arrangement being such that the valve is normally closed and also arranged i the pipe 20 is a valve 24 which may be ac justed to control the rate of flow of fluid through this pipe. The pump 19 is operated by a suitable electric motor 25 also mounted on the platform 12 and communicates with the top ofthe cylinder 13 by means of the pipe 26; I Formed on the inner face of the cylinder 1 is a pair of cam tracks 27 and 28 which are inclinedupwardly and on which a roller 12 a on the platform 12 is adapted to operate. I v The circuit through the electro-magnet 23 may be controlled by any suitable means, as b a switch or other mechanism operated by t 1e passage of a car or train into the block of" the track. Under normal circumstances the valve is maintained closedby the electro-magnet which is in. a normally energized circuit. Assuming for the purpose of understanding I the operation, that the gate is in its raised or open position with the valve:.22 closed, the liquid inl'the cylinder 13 beneath the piston 14 will maintain the gate against its bias towards closed position. Asso'on as a train enters the block the electro-magnet 23 isdeenergized thereby opening the oil circuit through the pipe 20 and the piston under the weight of the gate will be permitted to'drop, the oil passingout of the bottom of the cylinder 13 through the valve 22 and into the top of the cylinder. After the train has passed through the block the circuit through the elec tric motor 25 will be closed by any suitable instrumentality operated from the track and the motor will then operate the pump exhausting the oil from above. the piston 14; by

raised to a sufficient point to operate a suitable pressure switch 29 to open the motor circuit.

The speed at which the gate..may be elevated may be controlled by asuitable valve 30 which may be adjusted to control the flow of oil into the cylinder.

If desired, instead of the cylinder 12 above the piston 14 acting as a reservoir for the oil when the gate is moved to its lower position,

at pipe 31 may be extended into a reservoir 32 located in the base 2.

A suitable key controlled switch block 33 is provided by which the circuit of the motor 25 may be manually controlled When desired.

It will be noted that all of the parts are so mounted on the shaft 7 that the entire operating mechanism for the gate is supported from and rotatable with this shaft. The gates be ing mounted in the cap 3 which is rotatable with the shaft 7, provide means whereby the gates may be rotated under abnormal circumstances; as for instance a vehicle caught on the track when all of the gates are lowered. Under these circumstances, by pushing on the gates they may be rotated in a-horizontal position to permit the passage therethrough of the vehicle. When a gate is rotated in its horizontal position the roller 12 will ride up one of the cam tracks 27 or 28,- depending upon the direction in which the gate is rofated, andof course all of the parts carried on the platform will ride up at the same time. Due to the inclination of the cam track, as soon as the gateis released after having been rotated the weight of the parts will cause the roller to ride down the cam track, rotating the gate back to its normal position.

In the diagrammatic view illustrated-I provide a relay 34 which is normally biased toward open position and maintained in closed position by the electro-magnet 35.' Thisrelay controls the circuit through the solenoid 23 of the solenoid valve 22 and also through switch 38 and thence by a conductor 39 to ground, thus "establishing a circuit through the solenoid winding 35 and maintaining the switch 34 closed so that the winding 23 is energized and the electric motor is in an oper- I 4 atmg circuit. In event a car approaches from the left a circuit is established from the trolley by the way of the conductor 40 through the solenoid winding 41 of the switch 38 and thence by conductors 42 and 39 to ground. This momentarily energizes the solenoid winding 41 opening the relay switch 38 and thus opening the circuit through the winding 35 thereby permitting the switch 34 to open.

ing the solenoid 35 and closing the switch 34,

thereby re-establishing the solenoid operated switch 23 and motor circuit so that the parts are thrown in operative position again. It

is obvious that similar connections for the opposite track may be provided so that cars traveling in the opposite direction will operate the parts in the manner above described.

I claim:

1. The combination with a standard, of'a vertical shaft mounted therein, a head rotatably carried by said shaft and rotatable in a horizontalplane, a railway gate swingably mounted on said head and swingable in a vertical plane, an arcuate inclined track carried by said standard and an arm on said shaft engaging said track when the head is rotated in a horizontal plane to raise said head whereby when the rotating pressure is released from said head the head will be rotated to its normal position under the influence of gravity.

2. The combination with a hollow standtical plane on said head, means for swinging 1 said gate mounted on said shaft and means carried by said shaft and co-operating with means on said standard for returning said head to normal position when rotated in either direction in a horizontal plane.

3. The combination with a hollow standard, of a head rotatably associated therewith, a gate swingably mounted to swing in a vertical plane carried by said head, a shaft rotatable with said head, a platform carried by said shaft, a cylinder mounted on said platform, a piston operated in said cylinder and connected with said gate, and a pump mounted on said platform for pumping an operating fluid to and from said cylinder for operating said piston and co-operating means on said shaft and standard for returning said head to normal position when the same is rotated in .a horizontal plane in either direction.

In witness whereof, I, WILLIAM A. CcoK,

have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis,

Indiana, this 12th day of May, A. I); one

thousand nine hundred-and twenty eight.

WILLIAM A. COOK. 

